In the wake of the latest drone attack on Moscow, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that it is “absolutely fair” for his forces to attack targets within the Russian mainland.
During a visit to the western Ukrainian city of Ivano-Frankivsk on Sunday, President Zelensky tacitly confirmed that Ukraine was behind the most recent drone strikes on Moscow this weekend, one of which was shot down and two of which crashed into an office building causing some damage.
Although no injuries were reported, it appears that Zelensky is intent on bringing the war closer to home for those in the Russian capital.
“Gradually, the war is returning to the territory of Russia – to its symbolic centres and military bases, and this is an inevitable, natural and absolutely fair process,” Zelensky said according to state-run media Ukrinform.
The remarks are something of a departure from Ukraine’s normal rhetoric on the multitude of drone strikes and explosions in Russia’s mainland, that they are not Kyiv’s doing but rather the acts of Russian citizens trying to overthrow the Putin regime, giving them some plausible deniability.
In addition to this past week’s drone strikes against targets on the Russian mainland, Ukraine has also recently unveiled remote-controlled “sea drones” to target the Russian Navy in the Black Sea amid the breakdown of the grain deal between the two countries. The “drones”, which are essentially small unmanned motor-boats, are equipped with hundreds of pounds of explosives used to blow up warships.
On Sunday, the Ukrainian leader also expressed optimism about the current state of the war, despite most Western observers noting that the much-anticipated counter-offensive has been less successful than hoped.
“Russian aggression has gone bankrupt on the battlefield,” Zelensky said. “Today is the 522nd day of the so-called ‘special military operation,’ which the Russian leadership expected to last for a week or two. Ukraine is getting stronger.”
“But we must be aware that, just as last year, Russian terrorists can still attack our energy sector and critical facilities this winter. Today we discussed with the communities the current state of preparation for all possible scenarios,” he cautioned.
Meanwhile, on the back of a meeting with African leaders in St Petersburg over the weekend, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he would be willing to entertain cease-fire discussions with Ukraine, but not as long as the country’s forces are “on the offensive”.
“The Ukrainian army is on the offensive, they are attacking, they are implementing a large-scale strategic offensive operation,” Putin said in comments reported by POLITICO. “We cannot cease fire when we are under attack.”
“We did not reject them… In order for this process to begin, there needs to be agreement on both sides,” Putin said of potential peace talks.
The Russian leader received numerous calls from African delegations to bring an end to the war, which threatens to exacerbate ongoing food shortages throughout much of Africa. However, in contrast to Africa, there does not appear to be much desire to see the conflict end in Western capitals, with the Biden administration announcing a further $400 million in military aid to Ukraine last week, taking the total to over $43 billion since last year’s invasion.
While Washington seems content to let the war continue, Saudi Arabia has stepped forward as an unlikely peace broker, with a summit reportedly being planned to be held in the city of Jeddah in early August, the Associated Press claimed. Representatives from countries such as South Africa, Brazil, India, and the United States, among others, are said to be planning on attending the talks.
Yet, it is unclear as to what the talks could potentially accomplish given that Russia has so far not been invited.